On Black Ink Crew, Ceaser Emanuel finally realized that Alex Robinson wasn’t joking about his serious back injury. Previously, the Black Ink owner accused Alex and Donna of lying in an effort to extort money from him. Now he knows that they weren’t lying about the injury but some viewers are still confused about what happened.
It all started at Young Bae’s wedding when Alex and Donna showed up in support. Alex didn’t really want to go and even tried to avoid the event and, in turn, avoid a face-off with Ceaser and Teddy.
After Donna convinced him to go, a fight broke out as soon as Alex arrived. Ceaser and Teddy attacked Alex and while he tried to defend himself, Alex just couldn’t hold off the two bigger men who ultimately beat the crap out of him and sent him flying into a table at the upstate New York venue.
The shocking fight can be seen at the end of this clip:
That’s where the season left off when Black Ink Crew went on break but when the series came back, we got to see the result of that fight — Alex’s back injury.
Alex was rushed to the emergency room in extreme back pain and, after several medical tests, was told that the tissue surrounding his spinal cord had been damaged. While it was good news that his actual spinal cord was not damaged, the bad news is that he wouldn’t be able to sit still for long periods of time, which means that his days as a tattoo artist are over unless it heals.
The emergency hospital trip footage can be viewed here:
Dealing with the therapy and pain associated with his back injury, Alex also hasn’t been able to make money, which is adding another layer of stress to his situation. While Donna has been more than willing to help, Alex is a self-sufficient guy and not being able to make his own money has been a constant source of aggravation and stress.
That’s why Donna convinced Alex to seek out the help of an attorney and to sue Ceaser for pain, suffering and loss of work since he can’t even tattoo anymore. As revealed last night, another issue Alex is dealing with as a result of his injury is that he can’t even pick his son up.
While Ceaser initially thought Alex was just trying to extort money, he now realizes that Alex was truly injured and he feels terrible. It’s not clear what Ceaser might do to make up for the damage that he and Teddy caused but it looks like he does plan to make amends and to make up for Alex’s loss of income.
Black Ink Crew airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on VH1.